Can You Get Disability Benefits for Asthma?

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that causes your airways to become inflamed and narrow, causing breathing difficulties. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 8.6% of adults and 6.5% of children in the U.S. have asthma, making it one of the most common respiratory disorders in the country—so chances are that even if you haven't been diagnosed with asthma, you have a friend, family member, or other loved one with the disorder.

Severe cases of asthma that cause significant functional limitations can be considered disabling under both Social Security rules and the Americans with Disabilities Act, or "ADA." If you're currently working with asthma and need help to perform your job tasks, you may benefit from ADA protections, while those who can't work full-time for at least one year may qualify for Social Security benefits (SSDI or SSI). Veterans may also be eligible for a disability rating from the VA.

When Is Asthma a Disability?

Most cases of asthma are relatively mild and can be managed with at-home medication, prescription inhalers, and lifestyle changes. But severe cases of asthma might not respond effectively to these treatments, which can significantly interfere with your ability to carry out your daily routine. Depending on what type of benefits or legal protections are involved, these cases are likely to be considered disabling.

• The Social Security Administration (SSA) defines disability as having a medical impairment that keeps you from working any job full-time for at least twelve months.
• The ADA definition of disability is a medical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
• The VA considers disabilities to be medical impairments that were caused by, or got worse from, active duty military service ("service-connection").

All three definitions have one thing in common—being disabled involves having a medical impairment that affects your life to some significant extent. Medical impairments can be physical or mental, but broadly speaking, they aren't disabling if their symptoms require minimal, if any, medical intervention.

What Are the Symptoms and Causes of Asthma?

Asthma inflames your bronchial tubes, which carry air in and out of your lungs. When you have an asthma attack, your airways swell and tighten (constrict), and they can fill with mucus, restricting airflow. Not everyone experiences asthma attacks in the same way, but common symptoms include shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and tightness, pain, or pressure in your chest.

You may experience some or all of these symptoms with varying degrees of severity. Some people with asthma have only mild or moderate symptoms, but they occur on a daily basis. Others have bouts of serious or even life-threatening asthma attacks, followed by periods with no symptoms whatsoever.

Doctors don't yet know exactly what causes asthma, but it's likely a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental factors. Allergies also seem to play a role. Working in some environments—like those with a lot of dust or fumes—can aggravate the condition.

How Is Asthma Treated?

Controlling your asthma might require a variety of medications and tactics. Severe asthma is often treated with multiple medications, including quick-acting medicines (like rescue inhalers) and long-term medicines aimed at reducing the number and severity of your asthma attacks. Your asthma treatment might include a combination of inhalers, nebulizers, oral medications, and avoiding exposure to asthma triggers.

Treatment of mild asthma symptoms usually results in easier breathing within a few minutes or hours. More serious asthma episodes last longer and generally require immediate medical help, including hospitalization and intravenous medications.

Qualifying for SSDI or SSI Disability With Asthma

Social Security can decide that you're medically disabled in one of two ways—by finding that you meet the requirements of a listed impairment, or by determining that your functional limitations keep you from working at any job on a regular basis.

Listed impairments are medical conditions that the SSA considers especially serious. Each "listing" has a set of criteria that, if documented in your records, is enough for the agency to find you disabled "automatically" without having to determine whether you can work. Meeting (or "equaling") a listing is difficult, and most people who are ultimately awarded benefits are able to instead show that they have a residual functional capacity that rules out all jobs.

How to Meet the Disability Listing for Asthma

Adults with asthma may have their disability claim evaluated under listing 3.03. You can meet the requirements of this listing if you have medical documentation of both of the following:

• In a one-year period, you've had at least three asthma attacks (also called exacerbations or complications) that required you to stay in a hospital for at least 48 hours each time, and each hospitalization was at least 30 days apart.
• You have lung function testing showing a FEV₁ (forced expiratory volume) result that is low for your age, gender, and height, according to the values in Table VI of the listing.

Alternatively, if you have chronic asthmatic bronchitis (a type of COPD), you might qualify for benefits based on your FEV₁ or FVC (forced vital capacity, another measure of lung functioning) values alone under listing 3.02 for chronic respiratory disorders. Children with asthma may also qualify for disability benefits under listing 103.03.

Getting Disability for Asthma Based on Work Restrictions

Even if you don't qualify for disability automatically under the asthma listing, you might still get benefits if you can show that the limitations in your residual functional capacity (RFC) eliminate all full-time jobs. Your RFC is a description of what you can and can't do at work despite your asthma symptoms.

Social Security reviews your medical records, doctors' opinions, and activities of daily living to determine what functional limitations you have that keep you from performing certain job duties. For example, your asthma might keep you from exertional tasks (like lifting 25 pounds or being on your feet for two hours) that can cause shortness of breath. Or, you may be restricted from working around excessive dust, fumes, or temperature extremes that can exacerbate your symptoms.

Any functional limitations that are supported by medical evidence should be included in your RFC. If your past work required you to do any of the restricted activities in your RFC, Social Security won't expect you to return to those jobs. The agency must then determine if there's any other type of work that you can do. (If you're 50 or older, you have a better chance of getting disability benefits this way using a special set of rules called the "medical-vocational grid.")

If your asthma is controlled fairly well by using your inhaler and avoiding asthma triggers (like dust or pet dander), the SSA is probably going to find that you're still able to work. But severe asthma requires more aggressive therapies, often involving hospitalizations. Frequent, serious asthma attacks that require you to go to the hospital can cause you to miss a lot of work—which means the SSA is more likely to consider you disabled.

What Should Be in Your Medical Record to Prove Your Asthma Is Disabling?

Your medical records are the foundation of your claim for SSDI or SSI benefits. Social Security can't award you disability without evidence to support a finding that your asthma symptoms are severe enough to meet a listing or keep you from working, so having up-to-date medical records and doctors' statements are critical to proving your case.

Your records should document each of your asthma attacks that sent you to the hospital or required emergency treatment. Each hospital intake and discharge document should state the kind of treatment that was administered and for how long, as well as how well you responded to the treatment.

You should also have records of recent lung function tests, including spirometry, which records how much air you can blow out (FEV₁ or FVC), and arterial blood gas studies (ABGS), which measure the amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood. Your doctor should also give you spirometric tests when you're not having an asthma attack to record whether there's baseline airflow obstruction.

Furthermore, your records must show that you've been complying with the at-home treatment ordered by your doctor—for example, using your inhaler. If you haven't been following "doctor's orders," your disability application may be denied on those grounds. (Learn more about how compliance with treatment recommendations affects disability.) Lastly, because the SSA doesn't award short-term or temporary disability benefits, you'll need to provide medical records for at least one year of asthma treatment.

Can I Get a VA Disability Rating for Asthma?

Veterans with service-connected asthma can qualify for a disability rating from the VA. Under the VA Schedule of Ratings (38 C.F.R. § 4.97), diagnostic code 6602 for bronchial asthma, you can get an assigned rating of 10%, 30%, 60%, or 100%, depending on the results of your spirometry testing. For example, the smaller your tested FEV1 is in comparison to your predicted value, the higher your VA rating will be—reflecting the greater degree of lung impairment.

SSDI, SSI, and VA Benefit Amounts

Social Security doesn't award benefits based on the type of medical condition you have. Instead, the amount you'll receive if you're approved will depend on whether you're eligible for SSDI or SSI. SSDI eligibility is based on your work history and how much you've contributed to the program in payroll taxes, while SSI is a needs-based benefit available to people with limited resources.

For 2025, the maximum you can receive in SSDI benefits is $4,018 per month (although the average amount is much lower, at $1,580). SSI benefits are tied to the federal benefit rate, which in 2025 is $967 per month minus any countable income you have in that month. Some states also offer modest supplemental payments in addition to the federal SSI rate. You can learn more in our article on SSDI and SSI monthly check amounts.

VA benefits are calculated differently, using a combination of your disability rating and your living situation. For example, in 2025, an individual veteran with no dependents and a 30% rating can get $537.42 monthly in disability compensation from the VA, while a similarly situated veteran with a 60% rating can get $1,395.93 every month. But if these veterans were instead married with one child, the one with a 30% rating would receive $648.42 each month and the one with a 60% rating would receive $1,617.93. (Visit the VA website listing the current disability compensation rates to see the tables used to determine monthly benefit amounts.)

How to Apply for Disability Because of Asthma

Applying for Social Security disability benefits is a relatively straightforward process. You have several options to choose from in order to start your SSDI or SSI claim:

• Go online at ssa.gov. Filing online has many benefits, such as giving you the option to save your application and return to it later. You'll also receive a confirmation number where you can track your application.
• Call Social Security's national number at 800-772-1213 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, to speak with a representative. If you're deaf or hard of hearing, you can use the TTY number at 800-325-0778.
• Apply in person at your local Social Security field office. You can use the locator tool here to find the office closest to you.

Filing for VA benefits follows a similar process. Veterans seeking disability compensation can find comprehensive information about applying in our article on how to file for VA benefits.

What Happens If My Claim Is Denied?

Not everybody with asthma will qualify for Social Security disability benefits. Many claimants aren't legally eligible for either SSDI or SSI, while others may meet the technical requirements but are unable to show that no jobs exist that they can still do despite having asthma. If you disagree with the agency's decision to deny your application, you have 60 days from the date you receive the denial letter to file an appeal.

If, after reviewing Social Security's decision, you want to try to return to work, it may help you to be aware of your ADA rights as an employee. Because asthma is considered a disability under the ADA, that means employers are required to make reasonable accommodations in the workplace for their employees with asthma. That could include eliminating environmental triggers from your worksite, such as:

• reducing odors or fumes
• installing air purifiers or air conditioning
• restricting the use of allergens, perfumes, or toxic cleaning supplies, and
• removing old carpet.

Reasonable accommodation could also include allowing you to work remotely all or part of the time—like during colder months or when your asthma flares up. You can discuss creative solutions with your HR representative to strike a balance that doesn't constitute an undue burden on the employer.

If you're having a hard time deciding what to do after a denial, consider contacting a disability attorney with experience in Social Security, VA, or ADA accommodations law. An attorney can provide a realistic assessment of your options and help you decide how to proceed. Most disability lawyers work on contingency and offer free consultations, so it doesn't hurt to ask around and find one who's a good match.